Bestiary

A bestiary, or bestiarum vocabulum, is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described the appearance and habits of real or imaginary animals. Many artists and writers have created their own bestiaries, including Leonardo da Vinci, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Saul Steinberg, and Jorge Luis Borges. Bestiaries, or monster manuals/encyclopedias, are also published for role-playing and video games, films, tv shows, and literary works (for example Dungeons & Dragons, The Lord of the Rings, and Diablo.)